Raisins & Spice Oatmeal and The Topaz (Raisin / Grape Toxicity)

Today while my husband drove me to work, Mr. Topaz decided to help himself to a box of dry Quaker Raisins and Spice Oatmeal.

I was busy first thing when I got to work and when I got back to my desk I had 2 missed calls and a couple of missed txt messages from the hubbs saying that Topaz got into the oatmeal, which, mind you, was on the counter.

I knew he had bought 2 kinds…Apples and Cinnamon and Raisins and Spice. I asked which kind and said a small prayer that it was the Apple kind. He said apple…I asked are you sure. He went to check.

Nope…Raisins and Spice.

So I told him to call the vet immediately!

Raisins are HIGHLY toxic to dogs!!!! they can die within 48 hours of eating them. ONE, yes ONE, raisin can kill a 10 lbs dog!

Grapes/Raisin Toxicity & Dogs – Wiki
About.com - Vet Question
ASPCA - Grape & Raisin Toxicity in Dogs
Snopes - Dogs & Raisins
ASPCA - The Wrath of Grapes

If you click on the links above, or Google “raisin toxicity in dogs” you’ll find plenty of information about how grapes and raisins are bad and lethal for dogs.

Anyway, back to Topaz…so the vet says to either bring him in or watch him. Well, no way I’m taking that risk and just watch him…so my husband takes him in.

They said on the phone they were going to pump his stomach, but I believe then ended up giving him something to induce vomiting.

He threw up there until no more raisins came up, so hopefully he got rid of them all. The next 24 to 48 hours are crucial. We’ll keep an eye on him for sure.

He’s acting like nothing happened…and whew! he has some wicked GAS!! omg!!! Yuck!

Other than that and a bit of diarrhea, he seems to be fine.

Needless to say, he will have to be locked up again when we are not going to be home. This was basically the last straw and something that we shouldn’t have risked with him. It was just a matter of time before he got into something that could seriously hurt him…and this could have seriously hurt him.

I am going to up his PB tonight and hopefully he will remain seizure free after this. We’ll see, I don’t think there’s anything in the oatmeal besides the raisins that can really hurt him…other than he’s been on a no grain diet for a long time.

Never a dull moment with this dog, I swear~!~

More Goops & An Update!

I have been wanting to make more "goops" for Topaz for a few days now. We've been improvising on his meals.

So I started as soon as I got home from work and I made 4 different goops. These ones have meat, veggie, fruit and supplement in them. well, all but one has meat and supplements. One is just veggies and fruit. I can always add meat to that one later.

The first one I made has canned pumpkin, carrot, celery, spinach, garlic, apple, and pork, plus the supplements. I gave them this one for dinner...it's a little thick, I added 1/4 cup water to the other ones...but they both LOVED it...I think the garlic makes the difference!!

The 2nd one I made has spinach, celery, broccoli, cabbage, canned pumpkin, garlic, 2 apples, pork and supplements.

The 3rd one is mostly cabbage and broccoli, but also has canned pumpkin, garlic, an apple and a pear in it. This one is strictly veggie/fruit...no meat. I had a lot of cabbage to get rid of so I just made this. I may add meat to it when we give it to them.

The 4th is cabbage, broccoli, a lot of canned pumpkin, 2 apples, garlic, pork and the supplements.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about food for epi dogs and a question asking what people feed and what they do differently than others do to keep the seizures at bay.

I know we're *very* lucky with Topaz right now. He's gone over 190 days seizure free, and that's amazing!! I hate to say that I feel blessed (just because I don't like that saying...another blog...maybe on my regular blog) but I truly feel blessed right now by his progress and how long we've been able to keep the seizures at bay.

What to do we differently? Nothing that I know of. I just know we, like so many other people who are owned by epileptic dogs, have done and are doing everything we possibly can for Topaz.

Oh and he's been doing so well. I think that the pancreatitis was like a blessing (ack that word again) in disguise! He's turned completely around as far as how he's acting. He's our old, crazy, hyper, boofie Topaz! My husband drove me to work today and when he picked me up he brought the dogs and Topaz was in heaven! He was wagging his tail the whole time!! The last car ride he went on he barely moved!! And he was just SO happy today...chasing cars in the truck like he normally/used to do. It was amazing and I was so happy that he was happy!

I hope he continues to feel better and that we finally have control over the seizures. I know at any time he could have one, but he's just been doing SO WELL lately1!